After a few months where I was too ill to properly do the oracular ritual, I spent extra time with my Eye Goddesses this month, copying prayers I had previously written into the new book that will house all my ritual material. The omen they gave me is very positive:
This moon cycle, let us fill you with joy and nourishment, as the sun returns to awaken and nourish the plants. This is a time of renewal, a time to celebrate abundance, and to make way for new things. It has been a hard year, but do not notice only the bad. Celebrate those things which went well! Celebrate what you accomplished! And plan for even better things to come. Join us, chewing onions and cucumbers, and be awash with the light of the Sun!
The message this time is also confirmation for an upcoming event in my religious calendar: The Feast of Ra and His Eyes, IV Peret 1-5. (Various sources will give various days, but I’d drawn a few together for this one, into something cohesive, which would make sense for a temple to both Bast and Sekhmet.) My celebration is as follows:
- IV Peret 1 (March 7): Feast of RA, and the Presentation of the Boat
- IV Peret 2-4 (March 8-10): Sailing Procession
- IV Peret 5 (March 11): Feast of the Eyes!
- Chewing Onions for Bast
- Chewing Cucumbers for Sekhmet
You’re welcome to join me in celebrating this way, or devising your own celebration, but at the very least make time to notice the return of the light! (In the Northern Hemisphere, at least – sorry to any folks from the Southern Hemisphere, but you may need to devise your own religious calendar!) I will hopefully be sharing pictures of my shrine during the celebration, on the shrine tumblr.
The next full moon is March 28th. If you have any questions, or if you would like to request a personal message or heka for March, please email the shrine here. And if you are interested in supporting the shrine, I have a tip jar set up here. Thanks!